Crêpes et Galettes

What do these tasty foods have in common, aside from their own holidays?

Jan 30, 2025

Bonjour et bonne année !

At first glance, crêpes and galettes might not seem to have much in common, as they refer to fairly distinct French foods. 🇫🇷

But in fact there's a slight overlap that inspired me to consider them together. Today’s issue of Lawless French à fond takes an in-depth look at crêpes and galettes, as well as their respective holidays. 🎉

Table of Contents

Lessons

First things first: what are crêpes and galettes, and how are they related❔

You're probably already familiar with crêpes, as they are known well beyond France's borders. In a nutshell, crêpes are very thin pancakes that may be sweet or savory, depending on what they are filled and/or topped with. While they are eaten year-round in France (and around the world), crêpes are ubiquitous on their special holiday: le Jour des Crêpes (February 2, which is also Candlemas / la Chandeleur). Somewhat similar foods in other countries include Italy's crespelle, Eastern Europe's blini, and North America's pancakes. 🥞

Galettes are less well known outside of France, and there are different varieties. The most famous - and my personal favorite - is the galette des Rois: a puff pastry filled with frangipane. 😋 This galette is most often associated with Epiphany, aka la fête des Rois, a feast day commemorated in France on the first Sunday after January 1st. But galette can also refer more generically to a variety of flat cakes made with puff pastry, brioche, or pastry crust.

👉 (Just to make things trickier, there's also a gâteau des Rois [Kings cake], which is a brioche-style cake topped with candied fruit.)

And finally, there's the Breton classic that inspired me to write this newsletter: la galette de blé noir (aka sarrasin) - a savory crêpe made from buckwheat. 😮

Vocabulary